Opposition View: Fulham

Games against Fulham always tend to throw up entertaining encounters – from a Brighton and Hove Albion perspective, at least.

We’ve beaten the Cottagers with last minute goals, hit them for five at the Amex and been outplayed on at least three occasions, yet ended up winning every one.

Of course, we didn’t want to remind Andrew Beck from Cottagers Confidential of any of that. Instead, we talked about Fulham’s return to the top flight, who makes a six-a-side team made up of the numerous players to have represented both clubs in the 20 years and most importantly of all – when is Craven Cottage’s Michael Jackson statue coming back?

Plenty of pundits have feted Fulham’s work in the summer transfer window. Talk us through your new players and how they’re settling in?
It’s still a bit of a work in progress. Anytime you replace eight of your 11 players, it’s going to take some time to get on the same page. The attack seems to be ahead of the defence right now (probably because three of the attacking four remain). That being said, I love Fulham’s business this year. They spent a lot of money, but the players are in age ranges where you shouldn’t have to do this again. You can simply add one or two pieces every window from here on out without doing this big overhaul again.

What’s the aim for Fulham this season? Survival or do you think you can push for more?
For me, just remaining in the league would be considered successful. There are people out there who thing Fulham could challenge for as high as seventh, but I think the top 12 is a much more realistic goal. Fulham’s playing style is such that they are going to struggle against some of the top teams and unless they can develop a secondary style to use against the big clubs, I think pushing for the top 10 is probably too much.

The Albion were heavily linked with Aleksandar Mitrovic throughout last season before he joined Fulham. What have we missed out on by failing to sign him?
He’s big, strong, and knows how to get into positions to finish. He’s not super fast, but he can occupy centre backs and open up space for attacking players to fill. He’s basically the perfect forward for the system Slavisa Jokanivic plays.

We saw Ryan Sessegnon during our last season in the Championship. How good is he now and how good could he be in the future?
He’s really good. He’s probably one of the best three or four teenagers on the planet. I think the idea of having him at left back is pretty much dead now. He could have been an elite full back, but he’s so good at getting on the end of chances in the box, putting him deeper just neuters one of his biggest skills. He doesn’t play the game the same way as Gareth Bale, but that’s the kind of career trajectory I’d expect him to have.

If you could sign one Brighton player, who would you take?
I’m not sure. It feels like Fulham have tried to sign Lewis Dunk at least five times, so that would probably be my answer.

Plenty of players have played for both Brighton and Fulham over the last 20 years. Who goes in your six-a-side team? Ours would be David Stockdale, Danny Cullip, Simon Morgan, Steve Sidwell, Paul Brooker, Bobby Z.
I can’t really argue with any of those players. Just hearing the name David Stockdale makes me angry all over again because I still to this day don’t understand why Felix Magath let him go. Of course I don’t really understand any of the decisions that man made.

We’ve enjoyed plenty of good days out at Craven Cottage in recent years. What’s been your best memories of games against Brighton?
There aren’t a lot of good ones. If my memory is correct, Fulham have only beaten Brighton once since I’ve been a fan. That was during the 2014-15 season. At that point it looked like Fulham might be turning their season around (they weren’t). Even as Fulham had success in the Championship, Brighton was a team they struggled against, always seeming to choke when we were in the lead.

What – if any – impact do you think Shad Khan successfully purchasing Wembley will have on Fulham?
I think the main thing is that it shows that he’s committed to football investment in England. There was a worry after the team went back to the Championship that he might want to get out of the whole business. But with this investment, plus the continued plans to expand Craven Cottage, and the money he’s spent on acquiring players, it seems that he’s in this for the long haul.

Is there any chance of the Michael Jackson statue returning to Craven Cottage?
Things seemed to go sour after it was removed, but I think the odds of it ever coming back are effectively zero.

Finally, how do you see the game at the Amex going?
I’d like to say Fulham are going to win, but any result would make me happy frankly. Given the teams history, I’m saying Fulham jump out to a 2-0 lead with two defensive mistakes allowing you to equalise late.

Thanks to Andrew for once again answering our questions. You can check out the Cottagers Confidential online and why not send them a lovely tweet afterwards if his prediction of Fulham blowing a 2-0 lead comes to fruition!